I am sure you’ve seen clickbait headlines such as the one I just used. Someone shouting the need to buy the top [place number here] items to buy before the SHTF. And doing so in videos and articles to the point it becomes absurd. So why do I bring up the issue today? Because it is all clickbait…meant to grab your attention and get you to read their article or watch their video…and most of them are selling something.

So does that mean there is nothing you should buy before the SHTF? No, of course not! But you should have been buying your prepping supplies all along. And yes, doing so orderly, systematically, with priorities and “mission” guiding you…not fear, panic, or hucksters prodding and pushing you.

Example: This morning while I was searching for a history documentary on some Reformation notable person…a video came up called, “The Top 5 Things to Buy Before SHTF”…clickbait. But, I thought it might be interesting in hearing what a so-called prepper expert had to say. CLICK!

So this guy comes on and states his on-screen, on-line moniker…and website address. Then a long disclaimer on what he is not. Weird, because it was a disclaimer that he has no expertise in making recommendations…that he about to make. That is very telling, yes?

So his #1 item to buy was food. OK, I can actually live with that to some limited degree, although I would not go about it the way he did. Then priority #2 item…gold and silver. What!? Then it got worse…cryptocurrency was #3. At that point I realized he is…well, not so kindly…an idiot…a little more kindly…inexperienced, uninformed, and ignorant. It was then I understood his reason the extensive disclaimer.

His explanation for gold and silver was to have currency of value when the dollar collapses. He went on and on about how important and valuable gold and silver would be to buy the things you needed when the dollar collapses as a fiat currency. And then he went on to explain that when society rebounds gold and silver would provide you with a base of wealth.

Then it gets worse…he said the exact same thing for cryptocurrency!! But it would be even better because it would be stored online and more easily used to use as a currency buying and selling. WHAT!!!???!!!!???

First off, let’s talk about gold and silver, in my opinion the purpose of gold and silver…

To have a source of a tangible currency of intrinsic value with which to bribe and buy during the initial stages of a “grid-down”, emergency, or disaster. 

Continuing…intrinsic value is a property of anything that is valuable on its own. Gold and silver have some intrinsic value; jewelry, electronics, military applications, etc. However, once again the value of both gold and silver is mostly based in perception. People believe gold and silver to be valuable…so it is…until people no longer believe it has value.

Example: Would you like someone to give you 10 ounces of .999 gold rounds? Of course you would! Now, let’s change that just a bit…if you and your family were really, really hungry (i.e. starving), which would you rather be given to you…gold or a week’s worth of delicious food? Duh! Yes, I know the answer is pretty simple. So based on the situation, your circumstances, food could be far, far more valuable that gold or silver.

Now, you might say…but if I had the gold then I could buy the food. Really? If a farmer has the food to deliver to your family, why would he want gold? What value would it be to him? It would only have value to the farmer if he could then use it to buy what he needed. Which means the person he is purchasing those needed items from would also value the gold.

Here is the problem…as soon as someone in that supply chain decides they can’t use the gold for what they need…the gold loses ALL value. Meaning gold and/or silver then become just another fiat currency…worthless.

And here is one more thing to consider…what if the federal government outlaws gold ownership?

Well, in 1933 President Roosevelt outlawed the ownership of gold. And, he did so via an Executive Order. To make matters worse…he set the price of gold at $35 per ounce that you would receive when you turned in your gold to the federal government. And to make matters worse…he issued this Executive Order at the height of the Great Depression.

It is important to know why he did such a thing. The easiest answer would be to state the obvious…FDR was a socialist and wanted to move wealth from the people to the government. And you would be right for making that claim. But it goes deeper than that…gold in the hands of the people is the enemy of government. The US dollar at the time was backed by gold. You could turn in your dollars for actual physical gold. But, if you could not own gold, then you had to have paper money. And the government controlled ALL the dollar bills. Hence, the government controlled ALL wealth. And finally, since the federal government controlled all the legal gold, it also controlled it value/price…allowing it to print all the currency it wished…stating it was backed by gold.

So the problem with gold, and perhaps silver, is two-fold; 1) it is only legal to own as long as the government says it is, and 2) it only has value as long as people think it does.

#2 is useful during a grid-down for bribe and buy purposes only while people perceive precious metals have value to them. Once that perceived value disappears, so does the usefulness (i.e. value) of precious metals. And when does that value disappear? When they become hungry…or some other actual “need” becomes stronger than their “want” for shiny metal.

As for #1…who knows! In 1971 President Nixon debased the US dollar by breaking the link between the price of gold and the value of the US dollar. And including in that Executive Order…he also allowed for the private ownership of gold once again. His motivation was simple as well. By debasing the dollar from gold it allowed the US Government and the Federal Reserve the ability to create as much money as they wished. And that is why we have well over $20tillion in national debt that can never, ever be repaid…the US Government and the Federal Reserve simply created it via computer keystrokes…with NO underlying value…a fiat currency.

So does owning gold make sense? Yes, but only for the short-term after SHTF or TEOTWAWKI…to bribe and buy. But, it will become worthless after that. Will its value come back at some point? Maybe, but my opinion is such that I don’t have millions of dollars to do everything else AND speculate on what precious metals might or might be worth post-SHTF or post-TEOTWAWKI.

And no matter what…OWNING GOLD AND SILVER IS NOT #1 ITEM…in any universe for any reason!!!!!

Now, his #2…cryptocurrency. Let’s make this easy…real easy! Cryptocurrency compared to anything is WORTHLESS!!!! It has ZERO intrinsic value, is backed by absolutely NOTHING!! It is far, far worse than even fiat currency! At least fiat currency is paper and can be held in your hand…cryptocurrency can’t. And cryptocurrency not only becomes worthless if any government decrees it…ANY disruption in any type of Internet service makes it just not worthless…but completely unavailable…it vanishes into thin air never to be seen again. And while fiat currency can be counterfeited, although very difficult to do…cryptocurrency can be hacked (and has been) and it can be magically created at will via computer.

Yes, you can tell I am worked up over this! This guy is a complete and total fraud and fake. And most of all he is dangerous! Think about this…a person who is a prepper, takes his advice and puts his budget into gold/silver/cryptocurrency instead of guns/ammo, water filtration, gardening tools, back-up shelter, or any number of other prepping items that could actually save the life of their family…DISATER at the very least…fatal for the entire family at its worse.

So, I think I am going to start a series of articles combating all the fakes and fraudsters out there trying to tell people what to buy before the SHTF. I will use actual decades of actual hands-on experience, training, common sense, and a priority-based system of what to buy before SHTF.

Now, if you’ve been visiting this website for a while…using all the resources available…then you are probably in pretty good shape. But, maybe the new articles can help you identify weak areas that need attention. If you are just starting out…it could well prove to be a roadmap to survival. You might even like to send them along to your friends and family. I will also make them available in PDF format as well should you wish to print them out.

If you would like to make recommendations, have suggestions, or would like to make a request for the articles…just fill out the form below.

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Related Articles –

• Silver & Gold…Really?
• Why do I like “junk silver” so much?

 

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